1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains in general to a container for controlling movement of foods, and more specifically to an apparatus for preparing and cooking food products using a moveable container.
2. Description of the Related Art
While many kitchen tasks have been automated, there are still some unmet needs that have long been a problem in the household food-preparation/cooking world. For example, preparing and cooking dry beans is a notoriously laborious process that can requires hours, if not days, and includes many steps requiring the cook's presence. Dry, unprocessed beans must often first be rinsed and then soaked in fresh liquid, and the soaking can commonly take hours (e.g., 4 to 8 hours or overnight; soybeans may require soaking 12 hours or more). Commonly, the soaking water is then drained and the beans are then cooked in fresh water (often in a pot on the stove for e.g., 1 to 2 hours). Since salt can affect the cooking, addition of salt can be at controlled times in the cooking process. Further, some users prefer to first sprout the beans to increase the health benefit and nutritional value of beans. To sprout dry beans, the cook typically lays the dry beans out in a container with enough water to keep them moist and carefully monitors the water level to avoid drying out or over soaking. Typically, the beans sit for 3 or 4 days, with temperature and lighting conditions monitored to ensure proper sprouting. Thus, multiple labor-intensive steps for cooking and/or sprouting that require the user to return to the kitchen and take action, all the while carefully managing the temperature and environment of the beans.
Currently, there is no device that can perform all or even most of these sprouting/preparation/cooking steps in an automated fashion. Crock pots or slow cookers, rice cookers, and bread machines are popular kitchen appliances for having the ability to allow a user to insert the uncooked food in the pot early in the day and return to a fully-cooked meal at the end of the day. Yet these machines cannot automatically prepare or cook foods that require movement into and out of fresh liquids, or that otherwise require a controlled movement associated with liquids. While there are a few commercial cookers used by restaurants for cooking beans in large quantities, none of these devices are helpful to the typical consumer in the average household who wishes to prepare a meal involving dry, unprocessed beans or other cooking processes requiring fresh liquids (e.g., they are too large, heavy, complicated, labor-intensive, and/or are not suitable for home use, portable or easily cleanable with standard home washing equipment, etc.).